The Dark Night of Rage in a Culture of Nihilism: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Remembered Faces

Abstract

This interdisciplinary survey of literature examines varied definitions of rage in social psychology, psychoanalysis, pastoral care, criminology, literature, and Biblical scripture in order to develop a more robust understanding of the destructive and generative elements of rage impacting the lives of many African American young men (ages 15–35). Specific attention is given to cultural forces of nihilism (consumption, chance, codependence and concealment) that incubate feelings of rage in numerous African American young men.

Keywords

I am honored to co-author this article with Hashim Pipkin, a former student that I taught and learned with in 2011–2012. Pipkin’s uncensored thoughts are recorded in the section on Black gay rage in Giovanni’s Room (2000/1956). The body of the article surrounding that section are thoughts of my own. However, in many of the first-person references, Pipkin conferred that the usage of “I” was collective and representative of many of his own beliefs about and experiences with rage.

Notes

Acknowledgment

A special word of thanks to Brandon Williams, Antoinette Ellison, Marita Harrell, Reginald Wilborn, the family of Bobby Tillman, and a spiritual and literary cloud of witnesses, for spurring me to face my rage and write with a freedom only granted by the Holy Spirit and the sanctified daimon within me.